Articulated head and limbs for dolls and toy animals



Sept. 20, 1966 ART I CULATED T. WOLF HEAD AND LIMBS FOR DOLLS AND TOYANIMALS Filed Dec. 20, 1963 H9. 2 Fly. 3

19 E i E E INVENTOR Tab/n Wa/f BY W ATTORNEY United States Patent3,273,283 ARTICULATED HEAD AND LIMBS FOR DOLLS AND TOY ANIMALS TobinWolf, 447 Essex Ave., Bloomfield, NJ. Filed Dec. 20, 1963, Ser. No.332,070 7 Claims. (Cl. 46161) This invention relates to amusementdevices and more particularly, to toys having articulated members, suchas heads and/ or limbs or the like.

The prior art has proposed numerous toys of the aforementioned type;however, each such device has been deficient in some manner due tofailure of such toys to accurately simulate actual lifelike movements ofthe corresponding live counterparts thereof. Prior art toys have alsobeen highly fragile and therefore were unable to sustain the harshtreatment thereto of children for a sustained period of time.

In accordance with the present invention, the above mentioneddeficiencies are substantially eliminated by the use of a patentablynovel resilient joint for connecting heads and/or limbs and the like ofdolls and toy animals which permits the head and limbs to vibrate freelyupon movement of the toy to impart a lifelike action not common to toyshaving rigidly fixed members. The above advantages are accomplished bysecuring a first body member to a first mounting plate and a second bodymember to a second mounting plate. The two said mounting plates are bothconnected to a fiat, planarshaped leaf spring member, having a major andminor axis, capable of performing normal spring movement under tensionin a plane normal to the plane of the spring, said spring also beingcapable of undergoing rotation about the major axis thereof by torsionalmovement or rotation of said spring. In this manner, a doll head, forexample, is capable of undergoing a bobbing or nodding motion and isalso capable of turning by means of one and the same spring member.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide anarticulated toy which simulates the lifelike movements of correspondinglive counterparts.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an articulated toyhaving limbs and/or a head capable of free vibration in variouscombinations of positions.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an articulatedtoy composed of low cost durable parts.

It is a yet further object of this invention to provide an articulatedtoy which can be easily assembled.

The above objects and yet further objects of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription of two preferred specific embodiments, which are provided byway of example and not limitation, and from the accompanying drawing,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a view in section of a doll utilizing a joint in accordancewith the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a view in elevation of a portion of a joint as shown inFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of a second embodiment of the joint inaccordance with the present invention.

Referring first to FIGURES l and 2, there is shown a portion of a dollhaving a body 1, the body portion having secured thereto a head member 2and arms 3 and 4, wherein the head member may be turned about an axisthrough the neck and the arms may be turned about an axis through theshoulders. The head member 2 and arms 3 and 4 are secured to the bodyportion by means of joints 15, 16 and 17, respectively.

The joints 15, 16 and 17 comprise mounting plates 8 and 9, respectively,which may be simple metal stampings, each said mounting plate includinga notched open- 3,273,283 Patented Sept. 20, 1966 ing 18 or 19, saidnotches being indicated as 20 and 21. The openings 18 and 19 are formedby providing cut out members 13 or 14, respectively, affixed to saidmounting plates by means of a small portion thereof which remainsintegral with the portion of the mounting plate forming one side of theopening 18 or 19.

The cut out members 13 and 14 and the leaf spring 5 form alignedapertures 6 and 7 therein. at the regions thereof remote from thejunction of the cut outs and the mounting plates.

The parts of the cut out members having a part thereof containing theapertures 6 and 7, are substantially normal to the plane of the mountingplates.

The notches of the mounting plates of points 15, 16 and 17, formed bythe cut outs 13 and 14, loosely surround the edge of a leaf spring 5.These notches include an additional apertured portion to accommodatemovement of the leaf spring 5 in the direction of the minor axisthereof. By means of these notches, a twisting force applied to the heador arms acts over a relatively short length of the leaf spring (thedistance between the mounting plates) to afford a relatively rigidwrench for the mounting plates 9.

The leaf spring member 5, which includes a portion of apertures 6 and 7aligned with the portion of apertures 6 and 7 of the cut outs 13 and 14,is secured to the said cut outs through said apertures 6 by means ofrivets, or the like positioned therein. Alternatively, holes 6 need notbe used but, in place thereof, a spot welding technique or the like canbe utilized to bond the leaf spring 5 to the cut outs 13 and 14. Theleaf spring extends through the aperture formed in the mounting plates13 and 14, the mounting plates being positioned with respect to eachother so that the cut out portions 13 and 14 are remote from each other,the mounting plates being substantially parallel to each other.

Mounting plate 8 of joint 15 is rigidly affixed to the head member 2,and mounting plates 9 of joints 16 and 17 are rigidly affixed to the arm3 and the arm 4 by means of cement, rivets, bonds, spot welding, screwsor the like or by molding the mounting plate into the arms or head ifthe arms or head are rotational molded. The second mounting plate ofeach joint is held against the molded seat of the body portion 1 by atension (to be described later) but is not rigidly fastened thereto. Thenon-rigid fastening of the mounting plate to the body member providesthe additional advantage of a free safety clutch protecting the leafspring 5. In this manner, if the nonrigidly secured mounting plate isfree to turn before a torque applied to the leaf spring becomesexcessive, the leaf spring cannot be damaged by excessive twisting.

Band books 10 and 12 are positioned through the apertures 7 of the leafspring 5 and the cut out members 13 which are positioned within the bodymember 1, the band hooks 12 being placed under a tension exerted in adirection inwardly of the body member 1 by a connecting band, rubber orspring 11. The connecting band 11 passes through the band hook 10,thereby providing an inward tension to the head joint 15.

The resiliency of leaf spring 5 can be controlled by varying thestiffness thereof to provide different bobbing or nodding rates. Theabove can be accomplished by changes in thickness or other dimension ormaterial of the leaf spring or by varying the spring length as, forexample, by predetermined relative positioning of the mounting platesrelative to the leaf spring.

Referring now to FIGURE 3, there is shown a second embodiment of a jointin accordance with the present invention. It will be noted that thisembodiment is substantially the same as the joint of FIGURES 1 and 2,except that the cut out members 13 and 14 of mounting plates 8 and 9 arepositioned on opposite sides of the leaf spring 5.

Though the invention has been described with respect to two preferredembodiments, many other changes and variations will immediately becomeobvious to those skilled in the art Without departing from the spiritand scope thereof. It is therefore the intention that the claims beinterpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to includesuch changes and variations.

What is claimed is:

1. A joint comprising a first generally planar mounting plate defining acut out opening therein, a cut out member integral with said mountingplate a portion of said out out member being substantially normal to theplane of said mounting plate and a leaf spring secured to said portionof said out out member, said leaf spring extending through said cut outopening of said mounting plate, a second generally planar mounting platedefining a second cut out opening therein, a second cut out memberintegral with said second mounting plate, a portion of said second cutout member being substantially coplanar with said first mentioned cutout member portion, said leaf spring extending through said second cutout opening, said leaf spring being secured to said portion of saidsecond cut out member.

2. A joint as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cut out members extendin opposite directions from their respecive mounting plates.

3. A joint comprising a first generally planar mounting plate defining aout out opening therein, a cut out member integral with said mountingplate, a portion of said out out member being substantially normal tothe plane of said mounting plate and a resilient leaf spring secured tosaid portion of said cut out member, an aperture defined by saidresilient leaf spring and said out out member, said resilient leafspring extending through said out out opening of said mounting plate, asecond generally planar mounting plate defining a second cut out openingtherein, a second cut out member integral with said second mountingplate, a portion of said second cut out member being substantiallycoplanar with said first mentioned cut out member portion, saidresilient leaf spring extending through said second cut out opening,said resilient leaf spring being secured to said portion of said secondcut out member.

4. A joint as set forth in claim 3, wherein said cut out members extendin opposite directions from their respective mounting plates.

5. A joint for a toy which includes a first generally planar mountingplate defining a cut out opening therein,

a cut out member integral with said mounting plate, a

portion of said out out member being substantially normal to the planeof said mounting plate and a leaf spring secured to said portion of saidcut out member, said leaf spring extending through said cut out openingof said mounting plate, a generally planar second mounting platedefining a second cut out opening therein, a second cut out memberintegral With said second mounting plate, a portion of said second cutout member being substantially coplanar with said first mentioned cutout member portion, said leaf spring extending through said second cutout opening, said leaf spring being secured to said portion of saidsecond cut out member, an aperture defined by said leaf spring and oneof said cut out member portions, a toy body member and tension meanspositioned within said body applied at said aperture, for providing africtional abutting contact between said body and the mounting plateassociated with said one cut out member portion.

6. A toy including a body member defining an aperture, tensioning meanssecured within said body member and an articulation comprising a firstgenerally planar mounting plate defining a cut out opening therein, acut out member integral with said mounting plate, a portion of said outout member being substantially normal to the plane of said mountingplate and a leaf spring secured to said portion of said out out member,said leaf spring extending through said cut out opening of said mountingplate, said articulation further including a second generally planarmounting plate defining a second cut out opening therein, a second cutout member integral with said second mounting plate, a portion of saidsecond cut out member being substantially coplanar with said firstmentioned cut out member portion, said leaf spring extending throughsaid second cut out opening, said leaf spring being secured to saidportion of said second cut out member.

7. A toy as set forth in claim 6, wherein said out out members extend inopposite directions from their respective mounting plates.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 548,831 10/1895Kerngood. 1,322,733 11/1919 Cone 46-17 1,597,600 8/1926 Kallus 461611,777,731 10/ 1930 Pavelka -11 1,939,677 12/1933 Epstein 46l73 2,824,4092/1958 Brodrib 46-163 X RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. B. SHAY, Assistant Examiner.

6. A TOY INCLUDING A BODY MEMBER DEFINING AN APERTURE, TENSIONING MEANSSECURED WITHIN SAID BODY MEMBER AND AN ARTICULATION COMPRISING A FIRSTGENERALLY PLANAR MOUNTING PLATE DEFINING A CUT OUT OPENING THEREIN, ACUT OUT MEMBER INTEGRAL WITH SAID MOUNTING PLATE, A PORTION OF SAID CUTOUT MEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE PLANE OF SAID MOUNTINGPLATE AND A LEAF SECURED TO SAID PORTION OF SAID CUT OUT MEMBER, SAIDLEAF SPRING EXTENDING THROUGH SAID CUT OUT OPENING OF SAID MOUNTINGPLATE, SAID ARTICULATION FURTHER INCLUDING A SECOND GENERALLY PLANARMOUNTING PLATE DEFINING A SECOND CUT OUT OPENING THEREIN, A SECOND CUTOUT MEMBER INTEGRAL WITH SAID SECOND MOUNTING PLATE, A PORTION OF SAIDSECOND CUT OUT MEMBER BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR WITH SAID FIRSTMENTIONED CUT OUT MEMBER PORTION, SAID LEAF SPRING EXTENDING THROUGHSAID SECOND CUT OUT OPENING, SAID LEAF SPRING BEING SECURED TO SAIDPORTION OF SAID SECOND CUT OUT MEMBER.